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Wurlitzer 4100 Series

Andy, and others,</P>

These were spinet tube organs by Wurlitzer. What do the different model numbers indicate? There was the 4100 4100A, 4150, 4150A, 4100BP, 4100BD, and I might have left out a few others. When were these in production? They were very attractive spinet organs, and I noticed a good number of these in various web sites more so than the spinette reed models by Wurlitzer.</P>

Re: Wurlitzer 4100 Series

Before my time - almost!</P>

So I had to resort to the Blue Book. As you've probably guessed, these are all updates, through time. The 4100 and 4150are be different models though. Let's take the 4150 as an example. The 4150 itself dates from 1959 (I was only 2 then!) and has a pretty basic sort of spec. It runs until 1962, when the 4150B arrives, and this adds reverb, 'slide' (copying the Lowrey 'glide', of course), and the Spectra-Tone. 1963 sees the introduction of the 4150BD, which adds repeat (reiteration) for the upper manual voices and a two-speed Spectra-Tone. The updates for the 4100 are on similar lines. These seem to be the final updates to these models and soon after then, the tubes gave way to transistors.</P>

Andy</P>
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It's not what you play. It's not how you play. It's the fact that you're playing that counts.

Re: Wurlitzer 4100 Series

Andy,</P>

Thanks for the info. I was in my early teens when these came out. I know the 4100 and 4150 differ in that the 4150 had the chord unit in order to have the 2 in 1 organ that Wurlitzer used as a ploy to have something to compete with Hammond's chord organ. I love the sound of these organs. I once had a 4100A which I wish to God I had kept and had all necessary work to bring it back into playing as new. It was in decent shape,it just needed some servicing and the fact I made two big moves in less than a year when my new house was being built where the old homeplace sat. I read where the 4100 and 4100A differ in that the amp is installed differently one being vertical instead of horizontal.</P>

Hammond was such a big thing when I was younger, and I was wild about them, and after many years I have grown tired of them in any form or fashion. I like the Wurlitzer and Gulbransen so much more. I am an avid Wurlitzer fan. I currently have some service techs on the lookout for any one of the above mentioned models. I have missed a few, even lost a bid on one, and do remember seeing one in a thrift store which looked almost like new, but needed some work, maybe extensive for all I know, but it had all the extras as well as the Specta tone. </P>

The 4300 series came on the MKT in late 1964, and by 1965 the 4100 series had put out the last of their literature in mailing info to me. I really like the 4300 series, and told one tech to help me find even one of those. They have a bit of age, but parts are still available so I want to enjoy what I can as a bit of age keeps creeping up on me. I thought the 4100 series were the most beautiful organs I had ever seen when i was in my teens, but so many people kept saying, "nah, you don't want one of those, they are not nearly as good as a Hammond." Wurlitzer spinette organs, the reed models, were not popular here, and they did have many sevice problems as well as being widely known for needing service often.</P>

The 4460 is the console version of the 4100, and these tube organs have such a mellow singing rich tone to them. It is surprising at how much better they sound to me than the old brassy buzzy Baldwin, and the youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu sound of the Conn with Conn's individual stops other than flutes not sounding too realistic. The Wurlitzer's stops were good for that time era, and sounded realistic as well as other tones could beformed using their coupler system. It seems to me that Wurltizer did try to make an organ realistic in many ways following the pipe organ modes of playing an organ.</P>
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I grew up in the days where an organ had to make it on their tone alone. It does seem that any town who had a particular dealer they wereable to sell theirproduct locally such as Baldwin did here as well as the Hammond organ agency. Wurlitzer was in my area back in the reed organ days, but had pulled out by the time the tube models came on the scene.</P>
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Re: Wurlitzer 4100 Series

Andy,</P>

Also Wurlitzer introduced Ssh Boom in 1964 on these organs as well, and when the 4300 series came out that had all the added features you shared with me. Of coarse these were transistor organs, and I remember so well the beautiful brochures of these organs mentioning the fact they were silicion transistors the same as used in the space industry.</P>
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